2011 Predictions for Mom Bloggers

The new year wouldn’t start off officially for me if I didn’t lay out my mom blogger predictions for 2011.

First and foremost, the brand and mom blogger partnerships that you saw blossom in 2010 will continue to increase in 2011. There will be ample opportunity to work with brands, but you will have to be smart and understand that while the opportunities will be plenty, there are also more moms for brands to choose from!

Increased Competition: More and more young moms are finding that their lives do not have to be spent solely on platforms like Facebook, Youtube, and Livejournal and are starting to create their own blogs and drawing in their own audiences. That means there will be a lot of new mom bloggers coming into the fold increasing the competition for those who are looking to work with brands.

Additionally, women from professional industries who are not traditional digital mavens will create mom blogs and position themselves to partner with brands. In doing this they will provide stiff competition to influencer mom bloggers who have built their brand for years. In 2011 you’ll need to step up your game to be noticed whether that means re-branding totally, networking more, or getting a blog facelift. Make sure your blog and its contents are memorable and stand out from the crowd!

A Number’s Game: As marketers and brands become more sophisticated about influence (and that it is largely tied to numbers) you will have to start thinking like a business and concentrate on your traffic and social media following as much as you think about writing great content. I know, bummer! Companies like numbers they can relate to. The higher your numbers, the better off you will be. That said, 2011 may not be your year to work with brands, but may be your year to pump up the volume.

Thinking Beyond Your Blog: Most moms who will succeed greatly in 2011 will think far beyond their blog. They may have two blogs; they may write for a large parenting or local site; they may have an Internet radio show, they may record a podcast. Whatever it is, the moms who will succeed will be those who use multiple platforms to create and disseminate their content.

Simplicity Takes Center Stage: I foresee many mom bloggers paring down their many affiliations and concentrating on the partnerships that make the most sense for them. In years past, mom bloggers have cast their net wide in order to gobble up any opportunity that came their way. I see this as a year where mom bloggers become very picky about the brands they partner with understanding that these partnerships carry more weight than they originally thought.

The Year of Reinvention: Not only will 2011 be the year that mom bloggers have to repair years of being perceived as “hard to work with” and “too demanding”, mom bloggers will also have to innovate in order to stay relevant.

From the brand perspective

Mom Bloggers Trump Celebs: There is already a top-heavy level of mega mom blogger influencers that has established itself over the last five years or so. As we all know, many brands hire celebrities to endorse campaigns or products. I predict that many brands will realize in order to reach the online mom market moms don’t want to relate to out-of-touch mom celebrities. Rather they relate to someone who is like them – a fellow mom blogger. Brands will begin hiring more mom bloggers as spokesbloggers in addition to or in lieu of celebrities.

No Game Changing Moment in 2011: I would argue that the last real game changing moment in the mom blogging community came with the launch of the Walmart Moms. I do not foresee a game changing moment in the mom blogging community in 2011. I think everything is on cruise control right now. If there is a game changing moment, a brand will have to allocate a large budget to it and put in hours upon hours of hard thinking to come up with something fresh and innovative.

Long Shot Prediction of 2011: In other blogging niches, I have seen many blogs get acquired by larger media sites. The trend in the mom blogger community, however, is to be hired as freelancers or to enter into syndication contracts. 2011 may see the first game changing blog acquisitions where large brands or media sites capitalize on a blogger’s readership and brand instead of simply hiring them to write content while losing the moms’ readers in the process.

I’m also hoping for 2011 to be my best year yet to work with companies and brands.
I still do quite a few of gobbling them up but I get what you mean. We need to be a little
pickier sometimes. I just hope more opportunities come along for all of us.

Happy New Year! Really enjoyed reading your predictions. I’m glad your first point was about increased competition because it is very important for those bloggers looking to capitalize from their work to understand that this business is constantly changing, growing and evolving. Even more so now that many have realized that this is a great way to make a living (with LOTS of hard work involved!) We definitely need to keep reinventing ourselves, our style and our blogs. We’re definitely working on that!!

Yes, this is a year of increased competition solely from the standpoint of numbers. It’s just a matter of people understanding how much work it takes to be a leader in this space. You’re completely right about that.

I definitely see an increase in the bloggers coming to the web. There have been two major movies that really focused on the power of blogging- Julie and Julia and Wall Street 2. This influence will solidify decisions for people wanting to blog. I do not consider myself a mom blogger, but I have many moms reading my blog. What are the main distinctions that define a mom blogger?

So glad to see some of my own thoughts and changes agree with you 2011 pred’ictions. This will def be a year of reinvention and broader thinking for the mom blogging community and myself :) Looking forward to new and exciting things. Hope you and family had a joyous start to 2011

I’m so glad I saw your tweet about this post! It has me excited for all of the opportunities for us mom bloggers! I’m really looking for 2011 to be the year where I “pump up the volume” on my blog especially after reading this and meeting you and other bloggers at Lavish this past December! Who knows…maybe many of these predictions will come true on my own blog! Thanks as always for the info!

This is a GREAT article! I am very excited for all of the opportunities that this year will bring. I am definitely working on my brand and my content. I’m also going to be attending more conferences this year. I look forward to networking and meeting new people in 2011!

Side Note: I’ll be emailing you before sxsw, I’m getting a bit anxious! I think I need to set up some type of plan so I don’t get there and I’m totally overwhelmed! *smiles*

And, I totally look forward to what 2011 has to offer, as according to your predictions, I’m totally on the right track, with a complete revamp of my brand & business which happens to include my blog–this is truly an exciting time.

Since I no longer believe in goal-setting, but determining a Definite Major Purpose, I’m applying that, To Do Tasks, and setting Milestones on my calendar to reach for. With this, I hope to bring light to all (or at least most) of your predictions true on my little edge of the blogosphere this year. Would love your thoughtful input if you have a chance to see how I will in today’s blogpost linked above.

Last, I wanted to add that some of your predictions opens opportunities to new, fresh & unique voices to be an expert in their niche, rather than predictable posting of jack of all trades type of mom blogging. Also, it’s very important to have a diversified online marketing portfolio, which includes blogging, and not blogging by itself.

Just my humble 2-cents. ;-)

Many thanks for the motivation Jennifer!

PS. Count me in with Valerie, as the Young Mom crowd (hee hee)…Hey my girls think so, so that should count, right!? ;-)

[…] First and foremost, the brand and mom blogger partnerships that you saw blossom in 2010 will continue to increase in 2011. There will be ample opportunity to work with brands, but you will have to be smart and understand that while the opportunities will be plenty, there are also more moms for brands to choose from! READ MORE… […]

Thank you for these predictions. I have done many of these things in 2010 as I began to transition out of the traditional “mommy blog” (a market that is pretty saturated) and started a very specific niche blog about parenting children with diabetes.

I have gained a much greater following and am writing about something I am passionate about. In 2010 I worked more for advocacy and awareness raising on issues that affect my family and child and worked less for companies to promote products which are a dime a dozen.

If I could make one (wishful) prediction for 2011, it would be that mom bloggers aim toward making a difference, not just making a buck for a big corporation.

As always, all good stuff, Jennifer! I can say, for my business and strategy, they are dead on too (and one has already happened for me ;).

I would love to see more syndication of mom blogs. Some of the best material I read is from a mom who blogs! I also wonder what a game changing moment could be for the year too. Whatever happens, I’ll be interested in seeing this year unfold and being part of it all!

Interesting predictions, Jennifer! I came to blogging in sort of a backwards way so I’m still learning the ins and outs of blogging, but have had a website since 2001 and have hosted an internet radio show for nearly 3 years (after 2 years of being on a traditional radio station). In the last year and a half, I’ve considered myself a blogger as well. I loved your prediction about thinking beyond your blog, because that is what I’ve been doing already and hope to do even more in 2011 using the knowledge I’ve gained from blogging conferences and networking with other bloggers and putting it into action on a bigger scale.
It will be fun to look back on these predictions at the end of the year to see what transpired!
Best wishes and Happy New Year!

I love that the next step is stepping up a good game for bloggers who have been blogging. In the past yrs I’ve seen Spotlight bloggers go from being in the spotlight to stepping back and letting someone else stand in it. I work hard and hope the spotlight turns on me. IT’s a lot of work but worth it.

I think often about “numbers” – which ones matter, how much they matter, etc. I maintain that working with a blogger who has a moderate audience that is loyal and interactive is better for brands than working with a blogger who has lots of page views with little substance and few comments.

Ah to dare to dream! This will be an amazing year for so many mom bloggers out there! I wish everybody well! And Jennifer where would they be without this fantastic encouragement and great advice!
I also just read the post about the Mom Bloggers for Dummies book and I can’t wait to get my hands on it!

[…] to their readers, because they are banking on the increasing buy-in from the E-marketing community. Mom bloggers are not only sharing informational, evocative and inspirational posts, they are also spreading the […]